The ancient Silk Road city that has a lesson for Silicon ValleyTue, 21 Jul 2026 16:33:13 +0000 On a trip along the Silk Road, columnist Annalee Newitz discovers that ancient technology can offer us a framework for our own advances. The most important drivers of technology aren’t inventions or devices, it turns out, but the people making them | |
How to unlock unlimited geothermal energy, anywhere we wantTue, 21 Jul 2026 15:00:45 +0000 Earth contains more than enough heat to power humanity many times over, but so far only a few lucky places have been able to exploit it. Now we may have a way to tap this vast clean energy source almost anywhere | |
Effort to solve biggest controversy in mathematics has made no progressTue, 21 Jul 2026 14:13:38 +0000 For more than a decade, mathematicians have been unable to settle the question of whether the ABC conjecture has been solved. Fresh attempts to settle the debate are struggling to make headway | |
Tom Hiddleston’s new Pompeii show is unabashedly cheesy – but it worksTue, 21 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000 The Loki actor is the unlikely host for a three-episode docu-series about the Roman city. It's occasionally a little silly, but it's also entertaining and informative, says Josh Bell | |
Everything from cells to stars to particles exists on the edge of chaosTue, 21 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Complex systems, be they living beings or fundamental particles, need to have enough structure to hang together along with unpredictability that can allow for change. Columnist Thomas Lewton explores whether this idea is simply a pattern seen across the cosmos or could be a “theory of everything” | |
Inhaling high-dose CO2 clears Alzheimer’s proteins from the brainMon, 20 Jul 2026 16:31:27 +0000 Intermittently inhaling a high dose of carbon dioxide seems to remove the proteins amyloid and tau, which are implicated in Alzheimer's disease, from the brain by boosting its glymphatic system | |
AI’s solution to 87-year-old riddle takes mathematicians by surpriseMon, 20 Jul 2026 15:26:43 +0000 Mathematicians have been trying to prove the Jacobian conjecture for nearly a century, but now the Claude Fable 5 AI has apparently found a counterexample that disproves it | |
How to maximise the mental health benefits of your vacationMon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:37 +0000 Don’t just hit the beach. Research is revealing how to have a holiday that leaves you mentally restored and refreshed – with long-lasting effect | |
Strange paraparticles could be reality’s missing ingredientMon, 20 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000 Neither matter nor force, paraparticles would be something else entirely. Fresh hints that they exist are raising hopes that they could explain reality at its deepest level | |
Cloudy skies have slowed global warming – but that may be changingMon, 20 Jul 2026 11:53:25 +0000 Low cloud cover has been expanding since 1979, reflecting more sunlight into space, but scientists expect that trend to reverse and accelerate global warming | |